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Nelson meets US commander in Iraq

AM - Friday, 31 August , 2007 08:18:00

Reporter: Kim Landers

TONY EASTLEY: The Australian Government is preparing to send another stern warning to the Iraqi Prime Minister that public support for the war is not open-ended. Brendan Nelson is drafting the letter to Nouri al-Maliki after the Australian Defence Minister's trip to Baghdad to meet the top US commander there.

Dr Nelson is now in Washington, where he'll meet the US Defence Secretary tomorrow. His arrival coincides with a frantic campaign from the Bush administration to play down media leaks from a bleak, new report about the progress of the Iraq War.

Washington Correspondent Kim Landers reports.

KIM LANDERS: The Defence Minister Brendan Nelson has just met the man many in Washington are waiting to hear from, General David Petraeus, the top US Commander in Iraq.

After a 90 minute meeting, Dr Nelson has emerged saying he "has a much clearer picture" of what General Petraeus will present to the President next month, and that the message is that the goals of the American troop surge are "achievable".

General Petraeus has told Fairfax newspapers, "we have achieved progress", and while the US troop surge will remain in place for some months, the objective is to "gradually bring the surge down".

Dr Nelson has again flagged Australia's continuing strong commitment to Iraq, saying "we are not looking for any premature withdrawal".

The Defence Minister had planned to deliver a letter from Prime Minister John Howard to the Iraqi leader, but that meeting didn't go ahead because Nouri al-Maliki had to fly to another part of the country. Instead, Dr Nelson is planning to write to the Iraqi leader himself to warn that "the patience of open-hearted Australians should not be excessively tested".

Dr Nelson's visit to Baghdad and Washington coincides with a new, leaked report in the US, which says progress in Iraq has stalled. The report has been prepared by the Government Accountability Office, the non-partisan, investigative arm of the US Congress. It's still in draft form, but says the Iraqi Government has met only three of the 18 benchmarks set by Washington for political and security progress.

Stung by the findings, the Pentagon has asked for some of the negative assessments in the draft report to be revised. But White House Spokesman, Tony Snow, has defended that.

TONY SNOW: You've got a draft report that's been making it's way around the Pentagon, has suggested that there are some factual, that believes it has some compelling facts that may bear on some of the conclusions that have been drawn. It clearly has been leaked by some people who want to get some of the early thinking out.

KIM LANDERS: This latest report about Iraq has emerged just weeks before the so-called Petraeus Report is due to be delivered to the President.

Iraq's Foreign Minister, Hoshyar Zebari, says the whole world is waiting anxiously to see it.

HOSHYAR ZEBARI: I personally believe that these reports would not provide any magical solutions or provide any instant answers to the difficulties and the challenges we are going through.

KIM LANDERS: President George W. Bush will go to the Pentagon tomorrow to meet with the Joint Chiefs of Staff to begin hearing their recommendations about what to do next in Iraq.